Cristiano Ronaldo Disappoints Manchester City in Dramatic Fashion

Real Madrid defeat Manchester City in a thrilling Champions League opener.

September 18th, 2012Paul Tamburro

After TWICE looking like they were going to upset Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, Manchester City have been forced to leave their Champions League opener empty-handed after Cristiano Ronaldo buried the final nail in their coffin.

The dramatic match saw Man City looking like they may crumble under consistent pressure from the home side early on, with Ronaldo taking shots at will that, were it not for Joe Hart putting on a clinic in goal, would've seen the Mancs 2-0 down within the first 15 minutes.

While Madrid looked to regain the club spirit that boss Jose Mourinho had accused them of losing recently, Man City seemed incapable of dealing with their rejuvenated opponents, with Tevez unable to fight his way through defence and Silva also coming unstuck.

However, Yaya Toure's consistent, strong runs through the midfield proved too difficult to handle for Madrid and, in the 69th minute, he burst from out of his own half to play the ball into the box for Dzeko, who slotted it past Casillas to give City the unexpected 0-1 lead.

But the La Liga legends weren't going to give up that easily, Marcelo responding to City's first Champions League goal with an excellent curved (slightly deflected) shot in the 74th minute that put both teams on level terms once again.

As the game continued into the final 10 minutes, it seemed as though both teams were going to have to settle for a single point each, but in the 85th minute Aleksandar Kolarov put City in the lead once again, after he managed to convert a free-kick into a goal from out of nowhere.

However, it wasn't over yet, as Benzema sent the Premier League champions crashing back down to earth with an excellent finish in the bottom right corner in the 86th minute. As fans once again prepared themselves for a stalemate, Ronaldo swooped in to put a fitting end to the dramatic night, beating running through Zabaleta on the left wing before finally managing to beat Joe Hart, the ball sailing in to the bottom right corner in the 89th minute to bring an end to the thrilling match.

Elsewhere, Man City's Premier League rivals Arsenal were more fortunate, defeating Montpellier 1-2 following goals from Podolski and Gervinho, in a match which also saw Vermaelen give away a penalty.